First Trust Advisors LP Has $87.64 Million Stock Position in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC)

First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC - Free Report) by 23.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,080,479 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 960,591 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 2.37% of Eastern Bankshares worth $87,638,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 57.5% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 59,206 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,021,000 after purchasing an additional 21,621 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 14.1% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,815,393 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,316,000 after acquiring an additional 223,681 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the 4th quarter valued at $37,196,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the 4th quarter worth $311,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 479.2% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 43,929 shares of the company's stock worth $758,000 after purchasing an additional 36,344 shares during the period. 71.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO R David Rosato acquired 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $15.40 per share, with a total value of $154,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 20,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $308,000. The trade was a 100.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $22.00 target price (up previously from $21.00) on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research note on Monday, January 27th.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Down 6.5 %

NASDAQ EBC traded down $1.02 during trading on Friday, reaching $14.77. 4,053,356 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,077,962. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $12.54 and a fifty-two week high of $19.40. The firm has a market cap of $3.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.04 and a beta of 0.96. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $16.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.16.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $222.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $226.98 million. Eastern Bankshares had a net margin of 11.07% and a return on equity of 6.02%. Analysts anticipate that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eastern Bankshares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 3rd. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.52%. This is a positive change from Eastern Bankshares's previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. Eastern Bankshares's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 71.64%.

Eastern Bankshares Company Profile

Eastern Bankshares, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Eastern Bank that provides banking products and services primarily to retail, commercial, and small business customers. The company provides deposit accounts, interest checking accounts, money market accounts, savings accounts, and time certificates of deposit accounts.